to a rare sunday session. here's abc's jonathan karl with more. >> reporter: president obama cut short his hawaiian vacation, rushing back to washington where storm clouds, real storm clouds are gathering over the capitol. instead of deal making, it's name calling. the top democrat in the senate, accusing the republican speaker of the house of running a dictatorship. they say they haven't given up, but it sounds that way. >> i don't know time wise how it can happen now. >> here we are, once again, at the end of the year, staring at a crisis we should have dealt with literally months ago. >> reporter: without an agreement soon, nearly everybody takes a hit. a schoolteacher with two kids and a salary of $43,000, for example, will face a tax hike of more than $3,000. members of congress helped get us in this mess and they'll pay, too. with incomes of $174,000, they'll pay some $7,500 more in taxes. and it's not just taxes. on january 1, unemployment benefits expire for some 2 million people. you can expect one last effort, including a meeting at the white house with congressional leaders to t